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This section contains articles written by Mrs. Darth Vader. Totems- what are they? Totems are how nature communicates with you. The Force will sometimes send an animal to you in order to get your attention. One cannot feel the Force every minute as much as we wish we could. So, the Force can have a specific animal, which has certain meanings attached to that animal, come to you. For example, crow caws in that AwAw, Awaw fashion. It usually is a warning of some kind. A prairie dog grabs your attention: you may need to learn to be more cooperative with others. These are short examples to give you an idea of what a totem is. To the practicing shaman, there are no boundaries between man and animals. We all commune together. Animals are honored in the Shaman world. If one is a proper Shaman, you do not hurt the animals. This does not mean you have to be a vegetarian because part of Shamanism is the acceptance of the dark side or the law of predation. Predator animals eat prey animals as part of the natural cycle. So yes, you can eat meat like all the other predator animals. But a true shaman does not hurt an animal for ritual purposes. I have been very successful by just asking the animals for help. Animals, unlike people, are friendly and quick to help you. Totems are part of the American Indian religion. It is how they honor The Great Spirit (the Force). There are short-term totems that appear to guide you at certain times and junctures in your life, and there are lifetime totems that guide you all your life. Your life totems are part of your essential nature and the nature of the emanation of the Force that you commune with. Some people have exciting totems like the tiger or hawk. Others have rabbit or hummingbird. The wisest advice is to find your correct life totem because it is better for the rabbit person to learn the lessons from the rabbit than to pick a stronger, more exciting totem that does not fit. You can be a successful rabbit. This on the surface may sound like a downer, but all the ancients would say the same thing. You can have several life totems. Usually you get a balance, since in Shamanism, like the Sith, you use both light and dark side of the Force in balance. I have both tough strong totems as well as delicate weak totems, again for balance. I found the book "Animal Speak" by Ted Andrews to be the best book to start with. This, by coincidence, is also an example of how you can learn from someone that you do not get along with. I met Ted Andrews and it was nitro meets glycerin. But I still read and use his book because it is the best on totems that I have seen to this date. So if I debate with you, it does not mean that I haven't learned from you. I have given many animal and bird totems. I have also added environment totems. Together they give the whole picture, the animal and where it lives. This should give anyone who wishes to understand the animal world and how they relate to you a good start into this larger world.
Mrs. Darth Vader can be contacted by email or you can stop by her website.
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